Tour de France To Feature First Vegan Cyclist

by Michael dEstries July 1, 2011
Categories: Sports.
Photo: Flickr/Creative Commons

For the first time in its 108-year history, a cyclist participating in the grueling 2,200-mile, three-week Tour de France will complete the race while maintaining a vegan diet. Almost.

Let’s get this out of the way first: David Zabriskie, an American, will cheat a bit by consuming small portions of salmon twice a week during the Tour, to increase his ability to absorb iron.

Purists can denounce such a move, but consider this: Cyclists in the tour have to consume roughly 8,000 calories a day. Generally, this is achieved through meat, dairy, and other animal products. What Zabriskie is about to do will once again shake the sporting world into considering the benefits of going vegan/vegetarian – and why it will not leave them at a competitive disadvantage.

On the contrary, the 32-year-old – who went vegan earlier this year – says that he’s in the best shape of his life and that his energy has never been greater; a claim that’s backed by the fact that he’s won more time trials this year than any before.

“I think a lot of people see food in terms of whether it’s going to make them fat or make them skinny,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “I’m seeing food in terms of how it’s going to make me think and will it give me clarity.”

Zabriskie says that since going vegan, his overall health has improved, minor ailments like canker sores and saddle rash have all started clearing up, and his vision is sharper than ever. We wish him the best of luck!

Source: Wall Street Journal

About Michael dEstries

Michael has been blogging since 2005 on issues such as sustainability, renewable energy, philanthropy, and healthy living. He regularly contributes to a slew of publications, as well as consulting with companies looking to make an impact using the web and social media. He lives in Ithaca, NY with his family on an apple farm.

View all posts by Michael dEstries →

DavidZabriskieisNOTvegan

Let’s get this out of the way first: David Zabriskie is NOT vegan, he’s NOT even vegetarian. Lazy journalism pushed to the extreme. There are many true vegan cyclists and he’s NOT one of them. Go interview a real vegan cyclist and stop pedaling this rubbish around.
- whitney
  
  I agree. It’s awesome that he’s cut back drastically on his consumption of meat and dairy but if he eats salmon, no matter the amount, he’s not even vegetarian.
http://veganza.com Renee

Not vegan. Kudos to him for improving, but not to the author of this. Stop confusing people. It ends up with offended vegans and vegetarians, embarrassed/cranky non-vegans as well, and some people with sensitivities and allergies getting ill – please stop it. Near enough is not good enough – it’s lazy reporting.
- http://www.herwinsvegancafe.com herwin
  
  +1 its great that he cuts back on meat but its only making things CONFUSING to call him a vegan. Non vegs go like, oh, so a vegan can eat fish sometimes.
  Call him for what he is; a pescatarian. (and not a pesco vegetarian pllllllllllllease)
  Its this type of “promoting” veganism with not-so-vegan celeb vegans that we, ordinary vegans, have to put up with dumb non vegs who call us judgemental and extreme because we simply want that the WORD veganism is used correctly.
  Again, he cuts back on meat, that is great , just as great in my opinion as people who ditch meat occasionally and are flexitarians. Just don’t call a vegetarian, a flexitarian, OR a pescatarian a vegan .
  - http://www.herwinsvegancafe.com herwin
    
    “minor ailments like canker sores and saddle rash have all started clearing”
    
    thats great but curing the rash on ones butt has little to do with the vegan spirit.
    
    It’s like, all these celebs, make the most stupid vegan comments in interviews, like, recently Mike Tyson with his imbecilic remarks about veganism and how bad the food taste.
    
    Ditch these dumb half hearted celeb vegans and find and promote some vegans who deserve it.
Janine

Kudos to him for garnering some attention to vegan/vegetarianism in the sporting world! Did you know that there are immense health benefits to Zabriskie’s diet? Here is a list of some of the best 5: http://www.best5everything.com/best5ListPages/health-reasons-become-vegetarian-85226.php
Chris

David Zabriskie is NOT vegan. NOT vegetarian either.

False and misleading journalism. In fact it’s terrible journalism, because the author consciously contradicts his own words, which is pathetic. Very naive. He eats salmon, which goes against veganism and vegetarianism.

Here’s an analogy, it’s like someone told us he was a Jew, but he believed in Jesus. If you believe in Jesus, that makes you a Christian, not a Jew. Similarly, if you eat Salmon, 7 times a week, or even 2 times a week, you are a CARNIVORE, NOT even a vegetarian!
- Chris
  
  Vegan = NO MEAT AT ALL! GOT IT?!
  
  This is NOT difficult to understand.
  - whitney
    
    Ohh, he’s a seagan! Or veganish! Or.. you know.. an omnivore.
  - http://www.herwinsvegancafe.com herwin
    
    how about “pescatarian” ? LOL
lars

uhhhh. Vegan? I don’t think so. It’s great to reduce meat and dairy but you can hardly call that a vegan